The Zombie Apocalypse of Lima, Ohio
by The Minsk
Summary: My name is Finn Hudson, and you're reading this because I survived.
1. Part One

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy :)

A/N: What you are about to read is pure, unadulterated _nonsense_. I've never written in the first person before, and this is literally a zombie-Glee fic that someone prompted me to write on Tumblr. But hey, what the hell? The Super Bowl episode was epic.

**The Zombie Apocalypse of Lima, Ohio**

**Part One**

**

* * *

**

It wasn't every day when your hometown became ground zero for a zombie apocalypse. Seeing as my hometown was Lima, Ohio, aka, the middle of bumblefuck nowhere, the only time I heard the word zombie was around Halloween, or when people complained that there wasn't enough zombie action on _The Walking Dead_. They had never been anything more than a fantasy.

Until hell broke loose on Earth and people started dying.

Then coming back to life.

No one knew what had triggered it. Not even now, months after that chaotic nightmare had ended and we were brought here, to the CDC. Things are almost back to the way it used to be on the outside, but quarantine sucks, and I know I'm going to be here for a while so I figure I should let all of it out, you know? Rachel would have called it "cathartic," even though I'm probably spelling that wrong. I should have paid a lot more attention to Rachel, back when things were easy.

Rachel. I wish I could see her again, just one more time.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The point is, that I would take on a million slushies straight to the face if it meant I could get a taste of my old life back. Do sighs translate on paper? Sigh.

Anyway, my name is Finn Hudson, and you're reading this because I survived.

* * *

It happened so suddenly, that it felt like someone had shaken the earth until the rock shattered and Lima fell right through the cracks. One minute the town was the same old boring shithole that it had always been, and the next it was swarming with zombies. Funny enough, the reason why we all survived the initial outbreak, was because we were at glee rehearsal.

It was the week before Nationals, and we were so damn happy that we had gotten so far as to prepare for a National championship that we didn't mind practically living at the school during Spring Break. Everyone was working harder than ever before, and we were pushing ourselves to the limit during every rehearsal. Kurt had transferred back to McKinley, and we all felt like we were a team again, no matter what had happened between us all in the past. Nationals was the goal, and we weren't going to stop until we could feel the trophy in our hands.

So what if we didn't notice the news reports, or see all the people packing up their bags and leaving town? Who could blame us if the roar of the tanks went unheard while we were obsessing over dance steps and solo arrangements?

Yeah, we all royally screwed that up. To be honest, not a lot of other people were paying attention either, which was why there were so many of them when they all "woke up." But because we were all shut up inside of the school for 12-15 hours at a time, we just didn't notice them until it was too late.

It was a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. It was Spring Break; the Cheerios in particular were cranky that they were missing out on the team trip to Cabo so they could practice for Regionals, but the general mood was positive. I could feel Quinn's death glares digging at me from across the room but I tried to ignore them as I focused on getting the dance steps right for our big number. We had dated for a little while recently, but things didn't work out, _again_, and I was trying not to let it bother me all that much. In fact, while I was trying to get my footwork right, I was also trying to stealthily steal glances at Rachel, the _other_ ex, who was practicing runs with Mercedes across the auditorium. Things between us weren't great after we had broken up the second time, and she'd seemed to have lost all interest in me as a boyfriend after I'd started seeing Quinn again. Things with her were always a roller coaster, but I did miss her. I missed her way more than I wanted to.

But she didn't want anything to do with me anymore. In fact, she seemed to be completely over me, something that I had always thought was impossible. For weeks, I had been trying to get her to practice with me alone, and even mentioned a duet that we could work on together for glee, but she always brushed me off, and actually got a bit annoyed with me. It was like I could see it written in her eyes, staring me in the face: _I don't need you anymore, Finn_. _Get over it._

I didn't like that feeling. I wanted her to need me again, I wanted that connection back. Unless we were in a crowded room, however, she would barely even look at me. Besides, did I really want to go from Quinn, to Rachel, back to Quinn, then _back_ to Rachel? What was the point in bouncing between the same two girls who seemed to have more control over my heart than I did?

So, yeah, anyway, back to zombies, because this isn't supposed to be a little girls diary, it's supposed to be a nail-biting tale of survival and zombie ass-kicking. We were at rehearsal and were about to take a break when we heard it: the sound of helicopters, flying low over the school.

"Alright, what the hell _is_ that?" Puck had been complaining that he'd heard some noise outside of the for about 20 minutes, but never got off his butt to check what it was. When we all started to hear it too, we got curious.

"Come right back, guys, we still have to get through the second half of the number." Mr. Schuester followed us out into the hallway while we searched for the source of the noise. I was so preoccupied with making sure Artie made it up the ramps by himself that I didn't see Puck stop short, and walked right into him.

"Dude, move your ass!" I said it as a joke, but no one laughed. I finally looked up to see what had stopped them all so suddenly, and what I saw will be burned into my brain for the rest of my life.

Men in uniforms, holding giant weapons, were entering the corridors of the school like it was the beginnings of World War 3. Their guns were massive and their eyes were hard and cold like steel. Three soldiers had their rifles already pointed up at us, right in our faces, and my heart froze when I saw that Rachel was standing in the front, with her hands held up high like she'd been caught robbing a bank.

"Please, don't shoot! I can't win a Tony if I don't have a face!" I wanted to somehow shield her from the soldiers, but she was too far away from me, and I couldn't get to her. I saw Mr. Schue standing in front of Brittany and Santana with a gun to his temple, and everyone else who didn't have a loaded weapon pointed in their face was standing completely still.

No one moved. No one breathed. I thought my heart would never beat properly again. I thought I was going to die. I thought everyone in my little mismatched glee family would die there with me. Instead, Rachel's proclamation had informed the soldiers that we were not "one of them."

At least, to them, we weren't _yet_.

They brought us back to the auditorium and separated us by gender, making us take a blood test and fill out paperwork for what seemed like eons. I was worried that they were going to keep us apart and that didn't sit well with me. I didn't want to let Rachel, or any of the glee girls for that matter, out of my sight. Whether we were dating, friends, or riding that fine line between awkward and normal, those girls will always be like the sisters I never had, and they needed protecting.

Thankfully, they brought us all back together after the tests came up negative for infection. It took them a long time to explain to us what had happened to the town. All the remaining residents who hadn't been infected were evacuated to a secure location outside of Cleavland for the time being. My mom, Burt, pretty much all of our parents were gone. Mr. Schue tried calling Miss Pillsbury, but she didn't answer. The town was deserted now besides us glee kids, and for good reason. At that point in time, the virus was secluded to our tiny rural region of Ohio, so as long as they could keep all the zombies contained in town, they could set up a perimeter and start getting rid of the "Z-B's," as they liked to call them. It sounded a lot more militant than zombies, and it rolled off the tongue.

Our responses to the life-changing news were mixed.

"This is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me!" Puck, of course, was thrilled.

"My future career is over! Who cares if I have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame if there are people's brains splattered all over the place!" Rachel was panicking.

"So, wait, I can't pet the zombies?" Brittany was confused.

"If I get entrails on my new scarf, I will go medieval on those undead bastards." Kurt was cautious.

"We have to do something." I, as always, was trying to fix things. Be the hero.

Fat lot of good _that_ did me.

Everyone was staring at me and I tried to make myself look as big and intimidating as possible. No one looked like they bought the act. "Finn, I know you think you can help, but we are talking about _the living dead_, and they want to eat your brains. This isn't the halftime show at the championship game, Finn. This is real." Mr. Schuester was always trying to protect us, but this was bigger than all of us put together. This was life or death. This was freaking_ zombies, _and I'd seen enough horror movies to figure out the many possible outcomes if things went wrong. None of them were pleasant in any way.

"I know, which is even more of a reason to stand up and fight!" I wanted to get out there and kill some zombies! Puck pumped his fist in the air, clearly excited and on my side. The perfect wingman.

"You are going to get yourself killed, idiot." Santana, as per usual, was a cold hard bitch.

"No. Finn is right." Imagine my shock when Rachel stepped forward in my defense and stood right next to me with her arms wrapped tight around her midriff. "We have to do something. Lima is our home, and we can either get shipped off to Cleaveland and wait there helpless, or make sure the problem stops here while we have the chance." For the first time in what felt like ages, she looked up and smiled at me while the rest of the group stared at her, slack-jawed. "We should do something to help." We shared a small, quiet moment as our eyes locked, and it felt good to know she still supported me after everything that had happened. I felt more confident than ever as the rest of the group exchanged worried looks.

"Guys, it's time to go back to zombie boot-camp."

* * *

Zombie boot camp was a lot different this time around.

This time, instead of acting like zombies, we had to learn how to _kill_ zombies. The military was using the school as a rendez-vous point, and they allowed us to stay and help them, so all we had to do was stay vigilant throughout the school's perimeter while the army went on patrols around the town. We would only be left alone for about an hour, but that was more than enough time to become over-run by the reanimated corpses of the Lima townsfolk. We were still civilians, but were given axes, bats, and nightsticks to practice protecting ourselves. I don't think anyone even knew how to shoot a gun, but I wished we'd had one just in case. Nothing killed zombies more efficiently than a bullet to the head, and the army guys said the brain had to be damaged for the Z-B to die. The girls, who had taken archery in gym, had bows and arrows, and were currently practicing on the far end of the gymnasium while I worked on combat fighting with the guys.

Puck and Mike were sparring while Artie tried swinging the heavy axe around in wide arcs. We decided to give him the strongest weapon because he had the biggest disadvantage, and I looked at my bat with unease. We needed guns, but where were we going to get them? Maybe if it got bad enough the army guys would let us use some of theirs, but I really hoped it wouldn't get to that point. Rachel shot a perfect bullseye from across the gym and the girls all congratulated her on her precision. Whether it was hitting a high F or slaughtering zombies, Rachel was always going to kick ass at whatever she did.

I worked on sparring with Mr. Schue while Sam tried to teach Kurt how to swing the bat like he meant it. Kurt looked as if the bat was wearing white after labor day, he was so appalled with the weapon and what was expected of him.

"Do I look like I know the first thing about killing zombies? I can't even kill an ant. I step on them but apparently I'm not heavy enough to cause sufficient damage." He swung the bat around again, and I knew deep in my gut that if a zombie attacked right this minute, Kurt would not be able to handle it. We needed to practice on a real target.

"Yo, Puck!" Mike and Puck froze in the middle of their faux-fight and Puck came running over to where Kurt was practicing with Sam. "Come with me. Mike and Sam, help out Kurt, he needs to put some force into it."

"I don't do force." I had to resist rolling my eyes.

"Pretend you're fighting off someone for a scarf at the Nordstrom winter sale." Kurt got an evil look in his eye and turned to the other boys.

"Step away from that caramel-colored cashmere wrap you ugly tramp! That's a fall color and it will wash you out!" Kurt started to swing around the bat wildly while the boys ducked for cover. I tapped Puck on the shoulder and tried to escape unseen.

Unfortunately, Rachel sees everything.

"Just where do you think you're going?" She stepped in front of me and Puck and totally blocked our way out. I rubbed the back of my neck while trying to avoid eye contact.

"We're going to go find some tools to help us practice." I looked Puck in the eye and he nodded once, clearly on the same page as I was. I looked down at Rachel and she was starting at me with suspicion written clearly on her face. "Just make sure everyone is practicing and we'll be right back." She crossed her arms slowly and Puck stepped around her to enter the corridor. Before I was able to leave, she grabbed the sleeve of my shirt and stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Please be safe, Finn." Her eyes were practically begging me and I did nothing but nod like a dumbass. She let go of me, finally, and walked back to the group of girls without another word. I saw her fixing Tina's posture and stance and the girl was able to shoot almost as well as Rachel. Puck finally came back for me and pulled me away from the rest of the group.

We had to go find some zombies.

We didn't have to go far to find them. Half the troops that were stationed at the school were gone on patrol, so the perimeter of the school wasn't as protected as it should have been. We poked our heads around each corridor and were lucky to find them all empty as we made our way to the back entrance. They wouldn't be very happy if they knew we lured zombies into their "base".

"Alright, this is the plan. Wedge the door open enough that we can get back inside, because I'm sure the doors are all locked." If they got trapped outside they were going to wind up as zombie food. "We're going to try to lure one of them into the school so we can use it for practice. I don't think anyone knows what we're up against here, and we need all the help we can get."

"By letting one of those things inside? You're gonna get us all killed!"

"Trust me! Haven't you ever seen Zombieland?" He didn't answer me as I crept out of the back doors of the school. It was almost sunset, and the teacher's parking lot seemed eerily quiet. We walked around to the front of the school and still didn't see a thing.

That was when I saw my very first zombie.

"Holy shit!" Puck's low exclamation caught the attention of the walking corpse, and he turned his head around slowly to face us. As the waning sunlight his hit face, I got a good look at it as it writhed and spasmed.

I thought I was going to throw up.

Half of his face was just gone; his jaw was dangling off of it's hinge and it's tongue just hung there without any support at all, wagging around with each movement. The skin was peeling away from his face in layers and he was missing an entire arm. His eyes were just sunken holes in his face, and he stared at me and Puck for a good ten seconds before he dragged his body closer to us, step by step.

And the smell. Oh God, the smell. I would die happy if I never had to inhale that stench again in my life. Now that it was in front of us and staring us right in the face, we no longer felt like invincible badasses.

We felt like toddlers who wet their diapers and wanted their Mommies.

"Um, maybe this wasn't such a great idea." I whispered, feeling like a fool. We started to walk backwards, keeping our eyes on the zombie that was inching itself closer to us, when we heard a low growl behind us.

Slowly, we turned our backs to the lone zombie, only to face a heard of zombies so huge I couldn't tell how many of them there actually were. All of them stood directly in front of the door we had slightly wedged open. They started to accumulate in the parking lot, not even 20 feet in front of where we were standing, and they all looked pretty damn hungry.

"We have to get them away from that door." I whispered to Puck, but he had his own interests in mind.

"Retreat!" Puck screamed, and ran completely in the other direction, towards the front doors of the school. The sudden sound and movement created an atmosphere so chaotic, it looked like hell was about to break loose. They started to come right for me and I ran after Puck as fast as humanly possible.

Unfortunately for me, a hungry zombie is also a fast zombie.

They all moved a lot quicker than the single, lone zombie had moved just seconds ago, and they were catching up to me as I pumped my legs faster and faster back towards the school. Puck was by the front entrance of the school, pounding on the windows and waiting for me to catch up to him.

"Move it jackass, you're about to become an appetizer!" I was _so_ going to hit him if I made it back into the school alive. It felt like my lungs were on fire and I was running at full speed, but I could still sense them all behind me. The smell was overwhelming all of my other senses and we were stuck outside with no way of getting back in. Puck gave up on the front doors and tried to run towards the football field, but another huge crowd of zombies were already accumulating on the 50 yard line. Where was the military during all of this? Weren't they supposed to be patrolling the town, and keeping us all safe?

There was no way to get back around to the wedged entrance, and the mob of zombies were closing in on us fast. I looked at Puck and we shared a small fist-bump; a throwback to the more simpler times of our friendship, when all we had to worry about were competitions and championship games. Now we were going to die.

"It's been good knowing you, douche." Puck smiled at me while we faced the hungry mob, ready to meet the maker.

"Yeah, it's been real."

We closed our eyes and waited for them to start gnawing away at our flesh when two strong hands came out of nowhere and pulled us into the safety of the school. We were so shaken and disoriented, that we couldn't even tell who had been our savior until a familiar voice floated through the deserted halls of the school.

"Well well, it looks like I just saved you two meat-heads from becoming Human Steak Tartare." Imagine my surprise when the one and only Sue Sylvester pinched us both by the ears and started dragging us through the hallways like we'd been caught smoking pot in the boy's bathroom. What was she even doing here? Shouldn't she have been evacuated with the rest of the town?

She dragged us back into the gymnasium still pulling us by the ears, and all the other glee clubbers froze in shock when she made her grand appearance with us in tow. She told them all how she'd found us; humiliating us and earning me a slap to the face, courtesy of Rachel.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"You told me you were going to be safe. You could have been killed! You could have become one of them!"

"I wanted us to practice working with the real thing! We're gonna end up dead if we don't learn how to fight properly, and the military won't let us do anything to help!"

"Well, lucky for us the military is gone!" Sue exclaimed with unadulterated joy and we all stared at her, confused and stunned.

"What did you just say, Sue?" Will stepped forward, concerned, while I rubbed my stinging cheek.

"Oh William, you know how much I value my friendship with the Secretary of Defense! He called me, personally, concerned for my safety after he ordered this town to be wiped clean of the zombie population by any means necessary." She breathed in deeply while we all gasped in shock. "I love the smell of Napalm and fear in the morning."

"But what about us? They told us we could stay here!"

"Yeah, and you were all dumb enough to agree! Any intelligent, normal individual would have gotten on the convoy to Cleaveland, but no, not the precious glee club. Were you planning on bashing their heads in with the sounds of your singing?"

"Stop it, Sue." Mr. Schue warned as Tina started to cry.

"How will you be able to shake those jazz hands if they've been gnawed off?"

"I said _that's enough_!" Mr. Schue stepped forward and got into Sue's personal space. "If you think we're so stupid for staying, then why aren't you on the convoy as well? What are you doing here at the school if you had the chance to go with the rest?"

She stared Mr. Schue down with a violent look in her eyes and a sinister smile. "You should be thanking me, you know? I was able to get Mr. Secretary to send one last chopper here to pick up the remaining stragglers before they nuked the hell out of this town, and this is how you treat me? I am appalled." She stepped away from him and patted his head condescendingly while we all looked on in silence, convinced that our final memories of Lima would be watching Sue fight with Mr. Schue. "Besides, I have enough weapons stashed in my office to form my own militia, and I wanted to be able to protect myself for the next few hours until the chopper lands on the roof of the school. If you'll all agree to make me your official "Survivor Queen," maybe I would be willing to share." She looked around at all of us glee clubbers and we couldn't even muster the energy to say no. Sue might have been a terrible person with a personality like sand paper, but she wrote the book on kicking ass and taking names and we had to trust her.

No really, she even signed my copy of "How to Kick-Ass and Take Names." It's a bestseller.

"Sue." Mr. Schue stepped forward again and stood in front of Sue with his arms wide open, more vulnerable than I had ever seen him. "I don't care if you cut off my hair and sell it to a wool factory. You can open up a chain restaurant in the dimples of my chin. You can crush my car into a little box and sell it as a shoeshine stand, I don't care." He breathed in deeply as his voice cracked. "But please, you have to save these kids. You have to help them get out alive." We all looked at one another while our teacher pleaded with Sue, and in that instant, we knew that this was it. From that point on, we either worked as a team for survival or died alone and became one of them.

"Under one condition will I accept your plea." My eyes never left the two adults as they stared into each other's eyes, waiting for the next move.

"Anything, Sue. I will do anything to get these kids out of here safely." She looked at Will with hate in her eyes but turned to us kids with a smile.

"Alright kiddos, get in line! Step right up and give Mr. Schue a nice hard slap to the face. Then and only then will I help you make it through this ordeal with all body parts in tact."

"You can't be serious!" Will screamed.

"I am as serious as a zombie invasion, William, and I will not be trifled with. Now if you want your darling students to live through the night, you have to endure a slap from every single one of them." She smiled victoriously. "And _do not_ go easy on him, children, I want to hear the sound of stinging flesh!" She cackled like a witch as Quinn stepped up first and slapped him across the cheek, hard.

"That's my girl, Q!"

The things we do for survival.

**To be continued**

* * *

I hope you enjoyed the first part of my zombie crack!fic. It will not be long at all, only about three or four parts, depending on how much I can drag it out. Don't forget to read my other two fics that are currently in progress as well, _Escape_ and _The Perfect Couple_. I feel like I'm cheating on my own stories!

Until next time. . _.sings_. . .Don't Stop. . ._Reviewing_!


	2. Part Two

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy! :)

A/N: Sorry about the lack of updates but I was terribly sick this week and couldn't write. Thankfully I have Winter Break now, so I will be able to catch up on everything. Thanks for your patience!

* * *

**Part Two**

It wasn't easy slapping my favorite teacher in the face; well, actually, it was really simple, but it was hard to muster up the courage to do so. Mr. Schue had always been like a father to me in some ways, but he was the one who had made the deal with the devil for our survival, and I tried not to hit him too hard when I finally stepped up to the plate. Sue's evil smirk will haunt me for the rest of my life, and afterwards I went to go stand with the other gleeks who were just waiting for this nightmare to finally be over. A menacing cackle echoed in the hall as I turned around to see Mr. Schue drop to his knees so Artie could give him his final slap. Mr. Schue finally stood up, rubbing his sore face but staring directly at Sue, waiting for her to keep her promise. It was a tense minute before anyone moved.

"All right, kiddos, follow me. Time for some real combat training." Sue exited the gymnasium and us glee kids followed her in a tight group, armed with only our meager weapons. The fear that followed us around was thick and stressful. We rounded the corner to get to Sue's office and Tina's shrill scream stopped everyone in their tracks.

A zombie was limping towards us in the dark corridor, and I could hear the gasps of the others who hadn't yet seen one up close. Every zombie I had seen so far was unique in their own disgusting way, and this one was definitely female, and it's face was almost completely torn off on the left side. There was an eyeball missing, and no nose. It was limping because someone had taken a chunk out of the right leg, and I covered my nose from the stench. I felt someone grab my arm and almost screamed myself, until I looked down and saw Rachel holding onto the sleeve of my shirt for dear life.

"Oh God, the smell." Artie commented.

"Look Rachel, it looks just like you in the morning." Santana sneered.

"How did it get inside? I thought all of the doors were locked from within." Quinn asked and I immediately made eye contact with Puck from across the group, already knowing the answer.

We had left the back door propped open.

Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.

Now they could be anywhere.

"Um, that's our bad." Puck lifted up his hands and half of the kids in the group face-palmed dramatically.

"Yeah, we left the back door propped open. We have to go and close it before we let every zombie in town into the school." Puck nodded at me and we tried to walk away from the group, but Sue held the both of us back.

"Not quite yet, Dumb and Dumber. We have to get rid of this one first." Sue pointed towards the staggering zombie who was inching closer to us at a snail's pace. "Who would like to be the first volunteer?"

No one moved an inch or made a sound. We all just stood there, looking at one another back and forth, waiting for someone to make the first move. Everyone looked terrified, and I could feel the stress radiating off of the group in waves. As the captain of our little group, and the reason why the zombies were able to enter the school, I was ready to step forward and try. I had always thought of myself as a natural-born leader, and I was itching to get rid of one of these nasty fuckers.

However, Rachel beat me to it.

She grabbed the bat out of my hands before I even realized what she was doing, and she sprinted forward so fast that no one could stop her. With a battle cry that only she could summon with her booming voice, I watched, stunned, as my ex-girlfriend ran fearless towards the undead being and slammed the creature on the head with the bat.

"Rachel!" Everyone yelled in unison as the zombie recovered from the blow, and we all realized that these things were harder to kill than we had expected. It turned to Rachel with its jaw open wide and it's hands stretched out, but she had not yet finished her attack. With another powerful swing and a screeching yell that sounded a lot like a high F, she bashed the zombie's head in, and the creature finally dropped to the ground with a loud thud.

The hallways were eerily quiet except for the sounds of Rachel's uneven breathing. She looked up at us after a tense moment and her eyes were practically wild, and shining in victory. This was the girl who could barely play a half a game of football. The same girl who could barely say "ass" or "hell," and she had just bludgeoned a zombie to death.

And honestly? It kinda turned me on.

"Well, Berry, I'm impressed." Sue stepped forward and took the bat from Rachel's shaking hands, ignoring the brains that were splattered all over the place. "You show real initiative, and grace under pressure." She pat the girl on the shoulder but the shine was now gone from Rachel's eyes. She no longer looked victorious and when Sue led the rest of the team into her office. I stayed in the hallway with her to see if she was alright, her hair was a mess and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Without even thinking, I pulled her into my arms for a hug. I hadn't held her this close in ages, and for a moment I thought she might reject me, but instead she actually pulled me in as tight as possible.

"You okay, Rach?"

"I. . ." She shook her head into my chest and I could feel the tears leaking through my shirt. "I killed it. I killed something." Leave it to Rachel to put her own morals above her survival.

"It was a zombie, Rachel. It was already dead and it would have killed and eaten us all. You did a very brave thing." She nodded her head softly but was still clearly upset.

"I don't know if I can do this." She said in a very small, un-Rachel-like voice. I could hear how scared she was and to be honest, I was just as terrified. But I made a promise to myself in that moment that I would keep Rachel safe, so she wouldn't have to go through that experience again.

"I know you can do this, Rachel. We all have to go through with this, but we have to stick together and believe that we can make it. Or else, we might as well just open all the doors and let them into the buffet." The open door popped back into my memory again and I knew I had to go back and close it; but who knew how many more of those things had already gotten inside? We had to go and close that door now, or else we were never going to last the night.

"Come on. Let's go get some more weapons, and we'll practice a little bit. Then we can go close the door and get rid of the ones that were able to get inside. All we have to do is wait out the rest of the night, Rachel. We can make it."

She looked up at me then with her beautiful brown eyes and it took all of my self-control not to drown in them and forget all about the desperate situation we were in. When this was all over, I was going to make things right with Rachel and be with her again. I was starting to forget the reasons why we had broken up in the first place; everything seemed so trivial when compared to the zombie apocalypse. "You're not going to leave me, are you?" She asked me softly and I wanted to kiss her so badly. I wanted to shower her in promises that might never come true, only to make her smile. Instead, I squeezed her in my arms once more and told her I wouldn't leave her side again. It was the only promise I would allow myself to make to her, because I knew I would be able to keep it.

We walked into Sue's office and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. She had enough weapons stored in her office to overthrow the government of a small country, and never in a million years did I ever expect to see anyone in glee club holding a gun.

Now it looked like we were all about to go rob a bank.

"Sue, since when did you have all these guns stashed in your office?" Mr. Schue asked while demonstrating how to turn off the safety to Mercedes and Tina. Sue's lips twitched into a smile as she handed out boxes of bullets to Santana and Brittany to disperse to the group.

"Oh Will, I might have retired from the Special Ops, but you can never really _retire_ from the Special Ops, if you catch my drift." She embellished with a wink as she pulled out a sniper rifle with an attached magnifying scope and gave it directly to Artie. "Wheels, you'll be needing this. It's too dangerous to have you in close combat with those things, so Porcelain is going to take you to the roof where you two can be on the lookout for the chopper, and pick off anything that comes close to the school."

"Now wait just a minute, Sue. I don't want any of these kids out of my sight." I couldn't help but agree with Mr. Schue. Separating the group was not my favorite idea, and I had a bad feeling that we would be easier targets if we were in smaller groups. However, sometimes being in smaller groups gave you an advantage when it came to spreading out over a large area, and I couldn't deny that fact. Rachel shot me a worried look and inched closer to me as I was fiddling with my new handgun. Thank goodness Burt took me hunting over the summer or else I would be screwed. I didn't kill anything (Rachel had promised me not to and I'd secretly missed my shots on purpose, but Burt didn't have to know that), but I knew how to use a gun.

"William, you know nothing about espionage, or reconnaissance, or how to keep your hair from looking like a thicket of thorny bramble. Leave the planning to me; I outrank you in every single way possible." A loud bang echoed in the empty halls outside of Sue's office and everyone jumped in fear at the noise. Sue opened her window, giving us a prime view of where we had left the back door open. We all watched in shock as the huge group of zombies from before entered the building one by one.

"We have to go shut that door." Sam said as he loaded his weapon and looked over at Puck and I darkly. He was right, and it was my responsibility to go get the job done.

"I have a plan." My voice felt like gravel as I choked out my idea and the various members of the group were looking at me like I was crazy. I probably was crazy, but I knew this was our only chance.

"I, for one, don't think we should be leaving the planning to Man-boobs McGee over here, seeing as he's the reason the door was left open in the first place." Santana sneered.

"I know I messed up before, but this will work. I know it will." I'd played enough video games in my life to know how to execute a mission, and I even understood all the fancy jargon that Sue was spewing out. "We have the walkie talkies, and we all know what our jobs are, so there's no reason why this can't work."

"But Finn, we don't know how many of them already got into the school. They could be anywhere by now." Rachel seemed like the only person who hated the plan, but I think it had more to do with me breaking my promise to stay by her side.

"That's even more reason to go through with this. We all know what teams to be in, right?" The rest of the group nodded and Sue looked on with a dark glint in her eye.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Mercedes sighed before Sue handed out the walkie-talkies.

"Alright, Group One is the attack squad. Ground Floor. Your job is to pick off the Z-B's that infiltrated the school and close the back door so nothing else can enter. Once your job is done, you do a complete sweep of the first level before returning to the rendez-vous point on the roof. Is that clear?" I looked at Puck, Sam, Mr. Schue and Mike and we all nodded our heads in unison. Sue turned to the second group and I could feel Rachel's eyes digging into me from my periphery and I just _knew_ she was pissed.

"Group Two is the backup group. You will be patrolling the second and third floors with me for any signs of stragglers. We need to keep he top floor clear of them if we want to escape this school alive."

"Why?" Brittany asked softly. "I wanted to bring one home with me so my cat has a new friend to play with."

"Because our helicopter is coming to pick us up on the roof of the school, and if all of the stairways are blocked by zombies, we'll never get out." She pulled Quinn, Santana and Brittany into her group and turned to the rest of the gleeks. "The rest of you will be the Surveillance team, and your job is probably the most important." She handed Rachel the walkie-talkie and she frowned deeply. "Your job is to be on the lookout for not only the chopper, but to make sure that no others can get into the school. From this point on, you're all snipers. The stench of your fear in close combat would only attract more of them."

As happy as I was that Rachel wouldn't be on the front lines, I was still worried about her and the rest of my glee family. We had hours until the chopper was coming to get us, and who knew how many of those things were already inside the building? Sue was prepping the rest of the group with weapons and ammunition while Rachel found her way back to my side. She squeezed my hand as I turned to her, and the frightened look on her face would be etched into my heart forever.

"I don't like this idea."

"It's going to work, Rachel. I can feel it."

"I don't want you to be on the front lines, Finn. You could get hurt, or worse. . ." She let the sentence trail off because the thought of what could happen was too serious to say aloud.

"I'm just relieved that you don't have to be a part of this mess. You can still kick some zombie butt from a distance, Rachel. Just make sure you aim for the head." I placed my palm on the side of her face and she leaned into it, closing her eyes as I twirled my fingers in her hair. Before the group could separate I leaned over and kissed her for the first time in what felt like eons. I could feel everyone staring at us, but I didn't care at all. I needed that kiss more than I needed bullets. I had to let her know that I still cared, just in case something terrible happened, we would always have that one last kiss.

I'm glad I went through with it, seeing as it was the last time I would ever kiss her.

I pulled away from her and she had one hand resting over her heart, and the other resting over mine. The look in her eyes was heartbreaking, and I knew she was silently begging me to stay, but I couldn't. I had gotten us into this mess, and I was going to fix it. With one last kiss to her forehead, I pulled away from her and joined the group of boys who made up our Attack Squad. The other dudes were all fist-bumping and chanting and trying to rile each other up before we left to execute the mission. Sue went over the plan one more time before checking our weapons, and then it was time to say goodbye. We entered the dark hallways, prepared for the worst, until Rachel stopped us at the last minute.

"Finn, wait!" She ran out of Sue's office to chase after us and launched herself into my arms for one last hug. "Break a leg," she whispered into my ear and I had to stifle down the tightness in my throat as I remembered our much simpler past.

"I love you too, Rachel." I let go of her and waited for her to return to the safety of the office with the others before I rejoined the group and headed downstairs.

I should have held onto her for dear life.

Puck shot me a wicked smile and winked at me as we headed down the corridor. "So, you and Berry are back together, huh? Nothing like a life-or-death situation to get a girl all hot and bothered."

"Well, it won't do me any good if we all get eaten by zombies, so let's focus on the mission and get ready for the attack. Remember guys, don't waste bullets by aiming for anything other than the head."

We approached the hallway where the door was still propped open, and our walkie-talkie exploded with the sound of Rachel's voice. "Guns & Roses this is Funny Girl on lookout, I repeat, are you there Guns & Roses?" I grabbed the walkie-talkie from Sam and rolled my eyes at the names they chose.

"Yes, Rachel, it's me. What's up?"

"Finn, please stay in character and refer to us by the names we chose upstairs." As if this was a dinner theater instead of a Zombie war! I groaned inwardly and rephrased my message.

"Copy that, Funny Girl. What's your 20?"

"My twenty what?" This time, I definitely groaned out loud.

"Where are you, Funny Girl? Are you with the rest of the Surveillance Team?"

"Sir, yes, sir! I'm reporting from the roof of the school. The snipers are in place and we've already started picking off some of the group outside. It's making them all angry though." Before I could comment, another voice came through.

"Pussycat Doll here, reporting in. So far the second floor is clear." Santana's voice also came through the walkie-talkie and I was relieved that we had contact with all the groups.

It was time.

"Alright guys, this is it. We're ready to start the attack. Funny Girl, make sure you guys have the back-door covered and snipe as many of them as you possibly can before they can get inside. Pussycat Doll, make sure the third floor is safe and all the stairways that lead to the roof are cleared. We're heading in."

"Please be safe, Guns & Roses." Rachel begged.

"Yeah, you're already as slow as a zombie, you don't need to become one." Santana sneered.

"Roger that. Guns and Roses, out." I attached the walkie-talkie to my belt and motioned to Mr. Schue and the others to start the attack. We inched closer to the back hallway and the smell was starting to overpower my senses. I knew they were close, and before we turned the corner, we could already see some of them in our view, bumping into one another without noticing us. I used a compact mirror that one of the girls gave us to look around the corner and see what we were up against.

I wish I hadn't.

There were a lot more than I thought there would be. The hallway was packed with zombies who were just inching around the corridor, dragging themselves deeper into the school. There had to be at least twenty of them in that one hallway alone, and there were only five guys here on the attack squad.

The odds were against us, but we had to fight.

I turned to the other guys and Mr. Schue, determined to take down as many of them as I could, even if I went down with them. The rest of the guys looked like they were ready to do the same thing. Us Titans knew how to stand our ground against all odds, and this was no different.

"Alright, guys, this is it." Mr. Schue patted me on the shoulder while we all huddled around him and prepared the attack. "I am so proud of you all for stepping up and being the fearless leaders I always knew you could be."

"Mr. Schue, is a pep-talk really appropriate for our situation? We're about to go kill a bunch of zombies, not face off against competing teams at Regionals." Puck was trying to be a smart-ass so I whacked him on the back of the head and told him to shut up.

"The point I am trying to make here is, that you boys are the bravest kids I've ever met; whether it's standing up to bullying and peer-pressure or facing off against the zombie apocalypse, you guys never back down." I let Mr. Schue's pep talk give me the strength I needed before we faced our enemy, and the adrenaline started pumping like jet-fuel in my veins. We all looked at each other once more with determination set in our eyes and we knew that we were ready.

With a bellowing battle cry that I summoned from the bottom of my gut, I ran forward with my gun in my hands, ready to face the fray.

* * *

Salut mes amis!

Will the glee club survive this epic zombie war? Find out next chapter for the conclusion!

Until next time. . . ._sings_. . . . Don't Stop. . . Reviewing!

Merci Mille Fois


	3. Part Three

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I hurt my hand playing football and I couldn't type properly for days! Enjoy the final chapter, the epilogue should be up soon!

* * *

**Part Three**

They were _everywhere_. Surrounding us all in the small hallway were dozens of undead creatures just aching to sink their teeth into our tasty human flesh. The smell was overwhelming and I tried to hold my breath whenever I could in-between gunshots, breathing in nothing but the putrid air and the harsh burn from the gun smoke. As I aimed for my next target, I almost tripped over the many corpses that now littered the floor. I made my shot, but another one immediately took it's place in my vision.

And they just kept coming.

We were no closer to closing the door than we were at the very beginning of this gruesome battle, almost an hour ago, for they kept pouring into the open entrance one-by-one. The sound of bullets could be heard everywhere, deafening and disorientating, both inside and outside of the school. The gleeks on the roof were still serving as our snipers, and everyone was trying their best, but it was hopeless.

There were just too many of them.

"Fall back! Everyone fall back!" I screamed, but no one stopped their assault.

"We have to close that door!" Mr. Schue yelled over the sound of the bullets flying.

"It's no use, we can't get to it." Sam finally agreed with me as more of the undead came barreling through the door. I could hear the buzzing of the radio at my belt and I knew that either Rachel or the backup group needed us. I motioned to Puck and he came over to serve as my backup while I hid around the corner to take the call.

"Guns and Roses, here. What's up?"

"It's Pussycat Doll, and we have a situation." I waited for Santana to continue with bated breath. "Z-B's have infiltrated the second floor." My heart dropped all the way into my stomach at the news. Our only way out was up, and we would never be able to escape via the roof if all the pathways were blocked. There was only one entrance to the roof, all the way in the back Science hallway on the third floor, and we couldn't risk them getting that far. "Sue just cornered a bunch of them and got rid of them, but they're gonna keep coming."

"Hold on, Pussycat Doll. I'm gonna send you up some reinforcements."

"Have you closed the door yet?"

I sighed heavily as the situation stared to wear me down. Closing the door was moot now if they were already infiltrating the upper levels. "Not exactly."

"Well get your thumb out of your ass and do something, dummy, before we all wind up dead because of you!" She cut off the connection as the stress weighed down on me like a ton of bricks. Our offense just wasn't enough to stave the oncoming attack, and now we needed to spread our forces even thinner to cover more ground.

"Sam, Mike!" While I was leaning against the lockers with Puck as my backup, Sam and Mike were patrolling the stairs while Mr. Schue inched closer and closer to the back door, where the zombies were still pouring in. "Head up to the second floor and rendez-vous with the backup team, they need your help."

They nodded towards me as they ran up the stairs, using the height advantage to pick them off from above. Mr. Schue landed the perfect shot in the forehead on an incoming zombie, and it collapsed right in the entrance of the door, creating a blockage that gave us a unique opportunity. Puck and I ran forwards with guns blazing as we tried to get as many of them as possible, and Mr. Schue lunged towards the door to shut it. I could see him struggling to push it shut as the other creatures still tried to come in, and right before he was able to close it in full, a straggler from inside the hallway came out of nowhere, attacking him from behind and biting him right on the shoulder.

I had never screamed so much in my whole life.

"No! Mr. Schue!" Puck was letting his own choice curses fly as we tried to reach him through the zombies that were still roaming the first floor. The door was now shut but at what cost? Mr. Schue was as good as dead.

And it was all my fault.

"No boys! Head upstairs. You need to make sure everyone else gets out safe." He loaded his gun with a final clip of bullets and looked me straight in the eyes.

It was a look I'll never forget for the rest of my life.

"Finn, it's all up to you, now. You've always been the leader of the group, and now they need you more than ever." I could see the blood seeping from the wound in his arm and I wondered how much time he had before he turned into one of them. "I'll cover the stairs to the second floor for as long as I can. You take Puck upstairs and make sure the entrance to the roof is still clear. It's your last chance."

"Mr. Schue. . ." A light sheen of sweat had already gathered on his forehead as he started to breathe heavier, and I couldn't think of anything to say to the man who had been my mentor for so long. What could I say that could make things any better? This was all my fault. "Thank you. For everything. For always being there for us." I could feel the hot burn of tears in my throat and I choked through it, needing to get this off my chest. "I promise that I'll do anything to make sure we make it out alive." There was so much more I could have said, but a zombie broke through Puck's defenses and lunged at me, Mr. Schue killing it before it could take a bite out of me. It was too close of a call.

"Go, Finn. Take Puck and go, now!" He commanded me to follow orders and I had to obey his final wishes. I said one last goodbye to my teacher and reloaded my gun, popping the clip in and trying to take out as many of them as possible before I reached higher ground. It was a welcoming kind of therapy as I let out my frustrations and grief for my fallen teacher by popping bullets in the skulls of zombies.

Puck and I approached the second floor with caution. No one knew how many of them were roaming the halls past our defenses, and I hadn't seen my other friends in what felt like ages. How much longer did we have before the final chopper showed up? How many more of us would die before then?

I cleared my head of those kinds of thoughts as I pulled Puck down the second floor hallways, making sure the coast was clear before I could take a second and come up with our next move. The hallways were dark, and eerily quiet, but it allowed me the opportunity to relax for a moment. Puck was at my side, breathing heavily and bent over, and when I asked him if he was okay, he wretched and dry heaved into a corner until I thought I was going to be sick too. At least I wasn't the only one upset about this.

I reached for my radio, needing to hear the last voice of reason that existed in the world. The only thing that could calm me down while my world was falling apart in front of my eyes.

"Funny girl here. Is that you, Guns and Roses?" I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding; I was so grateful that they were still safe on the roof.

"Rachel, it's me." I said, ignoring the stupid names. "We lost Mr. Schue."

Her gasp was loud and sharp over the static of the radio as Puck leaned on the windowsill for support. "What happened?"

"He got bit by one of them. He's patrolling the first floor for as long as he can last." I let my statement trail off because I didn't want to think about what would happen to him when his time ran out. She started to sniffle lightly, and I knew I had to be string for the both of us.

"We're never going to make it, are we Finn?" She asked solemnly and I knew it was up to me to make this better. Mr. Schue had handed down his responsibility to me, and I had to be the one to keep my promise and make him proud.

"Don't think like that, Rachel. We're still here, and we're still fighting. We won't give up; Mr. Schue wouldn't have wanted that." Puck nodded his head as I tried to console Rachel and the others, who I knew were listening. "Santana, are you still there?" I asked, reaching out to the backup team, who I hoped were with Mike and Sam.

"Pussycat Doll here, with Brittany Bitch, Queen Quinn, Beiber Boy and Jackie Chang. What's up Guns and Roses?"

"How does the second floor look. Puckzilla and I are on our way to find you."

"This wing is clear but I know that there are others. I can smell them nearby."

"We can't let them get to the third floor, it's our only way out. Funny girl, how's it looking from the roof?"

"The back entrance is shut, but they keep on coming out of nowhere. They're trying to find another way in, and it's only a matter of time until they find one."

"Yeah, and no more suicide missions, please." Santana sneered.

"Alright. Puckzilla and I are heading your way, backup team. We can meet you by the math office." The math hallway was right below the science wing, and we could head up to the roof as a team from there. I didn't want to split up again, not after what had happened to Mr. Schue. Just in case something happened, though, I had something I needed to say to Rachel. "Funny girl, you still there?"

"Affirmative, Guns and Roses, I'm here." The words I wanted to say were stuck on my tongue and I forced them out, needing to say what mattered most. "Keep your eye out for the chopper and let us know the second it comes into view. We're going to make it, Rachel, and when we do, you and I are going to be together again. I promise."

"Finn. . ." She didn't sound like she believed me.

"No, I mean it. I made a lot of mistakes this year and I promise that I'm going to find a way to make it all up to you. I love you. I never stopped." There was silence over the line and I could hear Santana groaning on the other end.

"Ugh, this is disgusting and I've been shooting at zombies all night long." I ignored her as I addressed Rachel once more.

"Just stay safe on the roof and we'll all be there soon."

"Okay Finn. Please be safe." The connection dropped and I nodded towards Puck, who started to follow me down the empty halls. I could smell the putrid odor of death in the air, which meant they were close, but so far there weren't any signs of them on the second floor.

That is, until we turned the corner to the math hallway.

Just like we had witnessed downstairs, the zombies had worked their way up into this corridor and were blocking our path to meet up with the rest of the backup team. They were nowhere in sight as we quickly hid in an open bathroom, hoping that none of them had seen us in that split-second.

"Shit! How did they all get up here so fast?" Puck huffed in-between breaths as I reached for my radio, hoping to reach Santana and that we weren't too late.

"Pussycat doll, where are you?" I was frantic as I tried to reach my friends and only the static of silence crackled over the radio. It was a tense minute before she finally answered, barely whispering over the air.

"Guns and Roses, we are _screwed_." I had never heard Santana sound so terrified.

"What happened?"

"They came out of nowhere and caught us off guard. We ran into this classroom to hide while Sue ran into the cluster of zombies to protect us. She never came back and they filled up the hallway. We can't get out!" I had to choke back the lump in my throat at the news of our fallen comrade. First Mr. Schue, now Sue? Who would be next?

"Stay right where you are and don't make a sound. I'll think of something." Puck was staring at me like I had all the answers while I struggled to think of some kind of plan. I was the leader now, so I had to be the one to make the big sacrifices, like Mr. Schue and Sue.

"Puck, you wait here while I go distract the zombies away from the hallway. When it's clear, find the others and lead them directly to the roof. _Do not_ come back to get me." I tried to sound as authoritarian as possible while Puck looked like he wanted to argue.

"There is no way in hell I'm leaving you to become zombie food! I'm your wingman, remember?"

"And that's exactly why you need to do this for me. You have to make sure every last gleek is on that helicopter if I don't come back, okay?" I stuck out my hand for him to shake and he took it reluctantly. "Thanks for sticking with me, man."

"I told you I would be your wingman. To the very end." With a firm handshake he nodded his head sadly and stayed quiet in the empty bathroom while I readied myself for the diversion. I crept out into the hallway and stood in front of the mob of flesh eating creatures, the fear creeping into every bone in my body. I took a deep breath and screamed at the top of my lungs to draw attention to myself.

It worked a little too well.

Now that I had their attention, I froze as they started to migrate towards me, their arms outstretched and their mouths gaping open. I remembered my goal and ran in the opposite direction of the crowd, hoping to draw them out of the narrow hall.

Fortunately for the backup team, it worked.

Unfortunately for me, it worked, and now I didn't have a plan.

I could only hope that Puck was able to reach the backup team and lead them to the safety of the roof as I ran away from the mob of zombies that chased after me. I ran through the corridors of the school, hoping to find some way to outrun them as I approached the third floor staircase. I didn't want to lead them upstairs to our only exit out, but I had no other choice. I ran up the stairs as the radio crackled at my hip.

"Finn? Finn!" Rachel's voice was frantic as she disregarded our names, and I knew something was wrong. I reached for the radio as I tried to catch my breath, taking the steps two at a time. "Where are you? Why aren't you with the rest of the group?"

"I had to distract the other Z-B's so Puck could reach the backup team."

"Stop trying to be a hero, Finn, you need to get to the roof!" I could barely hear her over the sound of my pounding heart and heaving breaths, but her next message came through loud and clear. "The helicopter is here!"

My pounding heart felt like it had stopped beating altogether. "What?"

"I can see it coming, Finn. You need to get to the roof, now!" She was panicking, and to be honest, so was I. I needed to get to the roof or else I was dead.

"I'm coming Rachel. I'll be right there." I changed direction and headed towards the science hallway, needing to reach my only exit.

"I'll try to keep the helicopter here for as long as possible. We won't leave without you."

"No, Rachel, you need to focus on making sure that everyone else gets on that helicopter safely. Don't worry about me, I'll be right there." I ended the call abruptly and looked behind me towards the crowd of undead zombies that were still chasing after me. The science hallway came into view and I rejoiced as I found the hallway completely zombie free. They were still right behind me, but all I had to do was make it up those stairs in one piece.

I pushed through the door that lead to the roof entrance, and barreled up the stairs as fast as I could. When I burst through the roof access doors, I had never felt so releived.

Standing in front of me, in various states of shock, were my friends. My fellow gleeks. We'd all made it, and they were already loading Artie into the chopper.

I collapsed backwards against the door, so relieved that I could barely stand up straight. I caught my breath as I realized that we were going to make it. We were almost there.

Rachel spotted me from across the roof and she started to run over to meet me. All I wanted to do was grab her in my arms and never let her go. I wanted to keep my promise to her, and be with her in whatever future we could have had.

Too bad the nightmare wasn't over yet.

Before she could reach out for me, I felt the door that I was leaning against push outwards, and I realized that the zombies were still behind the door, pushing against me to try and gain access to the roof. Rachel stepped back a few paces as I leaned all of my weight against the door, and all of the gleeks who weren't yet on the helicopter ran over to help me. I tried to slam the door closed, but the locking mechanism was broken, and I was the only thing keeping my friends safe from a final attack. I made up my mind about the situation in that very moment. I was the leader of this group now, and I wasn't going to lose anyone else when we were so close to freedom.

"None of you move! Get back to the helicopter, now!" I could feel the creatures pushing behind me and I had to shift all my weight around to counteract the force of it. "That's an order!"

"No! Finn, we can't leave without you!" Rachel screamed as she tried to reach me, but Puck pulled her back by her wrist. I nodded towards him and an unspoken agreement was made between us. Puck knew what he had to do now. I officially passed my role to him because I knew I wasn't going to be on that chopper when it left. I looked at Rachel one last time, and smiled.

"I love you, Rachel." I said with all the emotion I could muster, and her eyes grew wide in fear. The other gleeks ran to the chopper as it started to warm up it's engine, and she stood at Puck's side, shaking her head furiously.

"No. Finn,_ no_." She looked at me struggling, then back at the copter as tears filled her eyes. "You promised me we would be together. You can't do this." She begged me to let go, but if I did, none of us would make it out.

"I have to Rachel. I'm sorry we couldn't get our second chance, but no one will make it out of here if I let go." I looked at the helicopter and the others were waving towards me furiously. It was time. "You have to go, _now_."

"No! I won't leave you! I'll stay too!" She pleaded desperately and I knew what I had to do.

"Puck, get her out of here! Go! _Now_!" She screamed in protest as Puck grabbed her by the waist, lifting her off the ground and throwing her over his shoulder while he ran towards the chopper. I could hear her screaming and crying, but I refused to look at her again, instead focusing on channeling all my strength to barricade the door. It was the only way I could make sure all of my friends would be safe.

Sometimes, being the leader means that you have to make sacrifices, even if it means sacrificing yourself.

I could hear the engine of the chopper roaring to life, causing the zombies on the other side of the door to push even harder, before their free meal got away. I put every ounce of strength left in my body into my struggle, trying to keep the door shut as the chopper hovered in the air, rising off the ground so it could bring my friends to safety. I could still hear Rachel screaming for me, and I closed my eyes trying to ignore it. Her terrified face was burned into my vision, though, and I wanted nothing more than to join her on that helicopter to freedom.

In a split-second decision, I released the door and ran at full speed towards the chopper that was already a few feet off the ground. I could hear the zombies burst through the door behind me, and all I could focus on was the chopper that was making it's way through the air and leaving me behind. The other gleeks started to yell in encouragement as I got closer, and I grabbed onto the landing bar as it rose higher, lifting me completely off the ground while I dangled in the air.

I was elated as I floated weightlessly in the air for a few moments, and for a second I thought we were all going to make it. I looked up and Rachel's smiling face was all I could see. Puck reached out for my hand to pull me up, and I was about to link hands with him. He was so close. . .

But the zombies were relentless in their hunger, and they caught up to me dangling mere feet above the roof. They grabbed onto my legs, trying to pull me down and throwing off the chopper's balance. It swerved dangerously in the air and I couldn't risk them not making it. The extra weight was too much to take.

"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise." I looked Rachel in the eyes one last time and released my grip on the landing bars, falling into the crowd of zombies below me. Rachel's scream echoes throughout the crisp night air as I landed on my back, staring staright up at the creatures who wanted to make me their dinner. The helicopter rose higher and higher in the sky as I rolled around frantically, trying to avoid their grabby hands and gaping mouths. I saw an opening and took it, kicking one of them in the face and pushing him into a bunch of others, creating an opening I could escape out of. I jumped to my feet and plowed through the others, reaching for my gun and unloading my last few bullets in some skulls. I looked up just in time to see the helicopter disappear into the night sky, and I breathed a sigh of relief. At least Rachel would be safe.

But what about me? I was stuck on the roof with no way out, and my only exit was blocked as the zombies inched closer. I had no more plans, no more bullets, and no more backup.

I was all alone.

A zombie lunged at me, and I crept backwards towards the roof's ledge, trying to avoid the attack. I hit the ledge and climbed up it, looking down into the blackness below. It was too dark to see, but I knew what my final options now were. I was three stories up but I figured I would rather throw myself off the roof of the school than get gobbled up by monsters. I stared at the undead crowd in front of me and came to terms with my fate. Saying goodbye to the world and everything I'd ever loved, I placed one foot off the ledge and fell backwards towards my death.

Someone must have been watching over me at that moment, because instead of exploding into a puddle of blood and guts on the pavement, I landed right in the open dumpster behind the cafeteria. The garbage was lumpy and smelled terrible, but it had literally saved my life as I stared up at the stars in the clear night sky. I laid there for a moment, coming to grips with the fact that I wasn't dead and came up with a new plan to get out of Lima alive. I reached for my radio, maybe to see if Rachel was still connected, only to discover that I'd landed on it, breaking it into pieces. It was all up to me now to survive.

I peeked out of the dumpster to see zombies roaming everywhere, completely unaware of my presence, and I knew what I had to do. I grabbed some of the smelliest garbage I could find and rubbed it all over myself, trying to cover up the scent of my tasty human flesh. Creeping out of my hiding spot, I staggered around like I was one of them, blending in and going unnoticed in the crowd.

When I finally made it to the parking lot I started to sprint, not caring anymore if I was spotted. My car was in view and I had never been so happy to see a 15 year old station wagon. I threw myself into the drivers seat and sped off, peeling into the night at dizzying speeds.

I drove and drove and drove, never once looking back.

* * *

Salut mes amis!

Being a teacher myself, you would think I'd keep the educators alive, buy what a wild ride for Finn! Stay tuned for the epilogue!

Until next time,_ sings_, Don't Stop. . ._Reviewing!_

Merci mille fois!


	4. Epilogue

DISCLAIMER: I neither own Glee nor the characters. They are the property of Ryan Murphy and FOX. This is purely for fun. Enjoy!

A/N: Welcome to the epilogue of my zombie!crackfic. I am so happy you decided to stick along for the ride, and I hope you enjoy the final installment.

* * *

**Epilogue**

You're probably wondering what happened to me next, and that brings us back to the beginning of my story. Quarantine is probably the most boring thing I've ever experienced, but it's been keeping me safe since my escape from Lima. I drove away from that town for days and saw nothing but desolation and emptiness from town to town. It wasn't until I had reached the south, I think I was in Arkansas or something, when the military blockade found me and brought me here. I've been in Quarantine for six months and I have no idea what life is like on the outside. What had happened to Lima, my hometown? What had happened to my mother, to Rachel? I might never know. What I do know, is that I survived, and if I ever get out of this sterilized prison, I'll never take anything in my life for granted again.

* * *

He closed the nondescript journal where he'd been recording his past experiences in zombie combat, and ran a tired hand over his face in exhaustion. Looking at the white walls that surrounded him in his cell, he got up from his small desk and collapsed onto his even smaller bed, the only pieces of furniture that were provided for him in his "room." A small attached bathroom was the only other thing he could call his, and he closed his eyes against the harsh fluorescent lights, trying to relax into the uncomfortable bedding. There were no windows, and a large, thick steel door that never opened was his only way out. Once a month, he was allowed to request only the most meager of supplies like soap or asprin, and three times a day, someone came by to stick a tray of food through a slot in the wall. He hadn't had a conversation with a living, breathing human being since he'd arrived here.

That was why he'd started keeping the journal. There were a lot of things that he'd needed to get off of his chest, and writing it out had been very therapeutic. If only he had someone to share the story with, but he had to wonder; was there even anyone left in the world to read it?

A few more days passed after Finn had finished recording his tale, and he was starting to feel restless, and claustrophobic in the tight space that he'd been living in for months. He knew that someone delivered him food every five hours on the dot, and even though he didn't have a watch, he stood guard at his cell door with his ear to the wall, listening for anyone to enter the hallway. When he heard the slight pattering of footsteps approaching him from down the hall, he started to bang on the thick steel door, hard.

"Hey! I need to talk to someone in charge around here! You can't keep me here forever!" His fists started to hurt as he kept pounding against the dense metal, the sound echoing off the sterile walls of his room. "Hey! Hello? _Hello_!" There was no response from the other side and Finn was starting to lose hope as the slot opened and a tray of food was pushed forward without any kind of communication at all. He was never going to get out of here, but did he even want to see what life was like on the outside? Maybe he should start writing "The Life of Finn Hudson: The Early Years" to pass the time.

He stepped away from his door, feeling like he should just stop trying altogether. If they were keeping him here after all this time, things must not be good on the outside. If it took the government six months to fulfill his simple request for a notebook and pencils, then he was going to be stuck here for _years_, if he could even last that long.

He was about to lay down on his bed and count the tiles on his ceiling for the fourteenth time (he knew that there were 326 of them, but sometimes he counted them in different patterns), when he heard an actual noise coming from outside of his room. He stood up quickly, getting ready to plead his case to whomever was behind that door, even though he had a gut feeling that he would be denied. When the door finally opened, he couldn't hide his shock when he came face to face with someone he thought he might never see again.

Sue Sylvester.

"Ms. Sylvester!" She had always been a ruthless, competitive psychopath, but he had never been more relived to see a familiar face in all of his life. He was convinced that she'd been killed in the Lima Zombie battle, but she stood before him with her trademark smirk and her hands resting on her hips.

"Frankenteen." She addressed him in an even tone.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, awestruck. "I thought you died in the attack."

She clucked her tongue, looking at him like she was disappointed. "Was there any evidence? Did you witness the Z-B's sinking their teeth into my tender, tasty human flesh?"

He shook his head. "No."

"See, no proof! Not dead." She looked around his cell and he could tell that something was different about her. Instead of her trademark track suit, Sue stood before Finn in full military gear, with multiple badges and medals accessorizing the chest and shoulders. "I hunted down the zombies and disposed of them, but was unable to rendez-vous with the rest of the group before the chopper arrived. I saw it leave and knew I had to find my own way out, and I succeeded."

"How did you find me?"

"Well, after the initial shock of the outbreak, many places fell into complete chaos. Most of the major cities are still deserted, but the survivors were all able to join together and rebuild in some areas under government protection." Hope began to bubble up in his chest as he imagined Rachel and his friends rebuilding their lives with a fresh start. "I joined forces with my old special-ops team to gather as many survivors together as possible. When I saw your name on the quarantine list here, I had to make sure it was really you: Finn Hudson, the hero of Lima, Ohio. Well, that's what they called you at your funeral." He stood there stunned as he processed this information as Sue threw him a change of clothes.

"Get your stuff together, Hudson. New Lima is ready to welcome you home."

* * *

New Lima wasn't exactly what he'd been expecting. It was about fifteen miles southwest of his old town, which was still in the process of being "decontaminated" and rebuilt. New Lima was mostly a glorified trailer park with military protection surrounding it, where single and double wide trailers were all lined up in rows. Clotheslines connected the trailers together to create a small community of survivors who were just trying to get through another day without running water, electricity, or the other luxuries of their old lives. Small markets were set up every few rows, where people could receive government supplied canned goods and jugs of clean water.

It wasn't much, but they were still fighting, and it was enough.

Finn gripped his bag in his hands tightly; the only possessions he had were a change of clothes and his notebook. He was holding onto it, so one day he could share his story with the world and tell people how he'd survived when he knew deep down that he should be dead. Looking out of the tinted windows of the town-car, he could see people peering inside, trying to figure out who it could be. He started to shake his knees in anxiety, needing to get out of the stuffy car and be with his fellow survivors in his new home. Rebuilding from scratch was going to be hard work, but he knew he could handle it. He'd survived a zombie war, after all.

The car stopped in the middle of an open space in the center of the "town" and people started to gather around the car. He tried to see if he could recognize anyone, but most of them were strangers that he didn't know. Sue motioned for him to stay in the car, ("Building up the tension before a surprise like this is _great_ for morale.") and stepped outside, commanding everyone's attention immediately.

"Ladies and Gentleman of New Lima, Ohio, I bring to you on this fine morning some special news." No one spoke as Sue continued, and all he wanted to do was burst through the crowd and find his friends and family before another apocalypse happened. "Thanks to my efforts and influence in our government, I was able to find a son of Lima who had been separated from us for a long time. A hero who sacrificed himself for the survival of others, a hero that New Lima could be proud of. I present to you all, Mr. Finn Hudson."

The crowd gasped in shock as he stepped out of the town-car, his eyes straining against the harsh sunlight that he was not used to seeing. Cries of "Welcome Home!" was all he could hear as people kept shaking his hand and congratulating him, praising him for his sacrifice and survival.

It was then when he saw him. Noah Puckerman was standing on the outskirts of the group holding a jug of military-sterilized water, and staring at Finn like he was seeing a ghost. Feeling relieved that his friends had indeed made it to New Lima alive, he pushed through the crowd of people who were still congratulating him, and walked over to his best friend and eternal wingman. Grabbing the mohawked boy by the shoulders, he gave Puck the manliest hug possible and Puck didn't even protest.

"Holy shit, Hudson, I can't believe you made it out alive." He said, completely in awe while smirking like a fool. "You_ badass_."

Finn shook his head wildly. "No way, man, it was all pure luck. I should be dead right now, no doubt about that." Without another word, Puck started to lead Finn down the narrow paths of trailers that surrounded them both, a determined look on his face.

"Follow me. There are people you need to see."

* * *

Puck led Finn around his new neighborhood until they reached the trailer that his mother shared with Burt and Kurt, who was ecstatic to see his step-brother alive. Carole collapsed into her son's embrace during the reunion, and he explained to her what had happened to him after the other kids got rescued. They all listened in awe as he explained quarantine, and how he thought the world had ended while people were actually still fighting for survival. Finn was eternally grateful that he had a home again, and a family that was healthy and safe.

But there was still one promise he had to keep.

"Where's Rachel?" He asked Kurt and Puck after his emotional family reunion and the two boys shared a similar, anxious look.

"She's at her dads' trailer, not too far from here. We'll take you to her, but be ready for her reaction when she sees you."

"What? Why?" Kurt patted Finn on the shoulder lightly, giving him a sympathetic look.

"Let's just say the girls' been wearing black for six months and hasn't sung a note in just as long."

"Are you serious?" He asked incredulously. Rachel was still in that much grief?

"Dude, she totally blames me for it, too!" Puck said in anger. "She refuses to talk to me because I pulled her away from you that night on the roof. She says I should have left her there._ Whatever_."

Finn nodded his head, determined to make things right. "Let's go, guys. Take me to Rachel's."

* * *

They walked the narrow paths through the trailers as the sun started to set on the western horizon. There was a heavily enforced curfew after sunset, but he had no plans to leave Rachel's side now that he knew how much she'd suffered over the past six months. Compared to this place, his cell in quarantine was like staying at the Hilton, and he made a promise to himself that he was going to work as hard as possible to make New Lima into a better community for his friends and family. The rebuilding had just begin.

But first, he had to rebuild his relationship with Rachel, who still thought he was dead. Puck stood with him while Kurt went to go knock on her door. No one answered, but he could hear Rachel yelling from inside.

"Who's there?"

"Rachel, it's me, Kurt, and Puck is here too." He paused and she still wouldn't answer. "We have something to show you."

"Just go away." She said miserably, and he knew he had to do something to make his presence known, but what?

"Come on, Rachel, I think you're_ really_ going to like it." Kurt teased but she wouldn't bite.

"**Leave me alone**!" She screamed and Finn knew that she was never going to come out unless he made his presence known.

So he stepped closer to her door, took a deep breath and spoke to the girl he'd been dreaming of for months. The girl he thought he would never see or kiss again. "Rachel, it's _me_. It's Finn."

"Nice try, Puckerman. You're stooping to new lows with this one." She _still_ didn't think it was him! He tried one more time to break through to her.

"Rachel, it's _really_ me. I'm here to keep my promise."

After a few tense seconds, she came bursting out of the door of the trailer, looking around wildly until she spotted Finn standing with Puck a few feet away. She was wearing nothing but black, her hair was a tangled, wild mess, and her eyes were wide and disbelieving when she took in the sight of him.

She had never looked more beautiful.

"Finn?" Her voice was small and she looked at him like she didn't want to believe it; like he was going to disappear at any second. He put on his brightest smile for reassurance.

"Yes, Rachel. It's me. _I'm home_." Saying it out loud made it feel more real to Finn as he stepped closer to her, taking in her appearance and committing it to memory. She looked a bit pale, and very thin, but now that he was home, he was going to take special care of her until she was back to her old self. She'd obviously been suffering, and he never wanted to see Rachel in this state of duress again.

"But. . . how?" He had never seen her so speechless before! "I was _there_, Finn. I saw you fall into that group of zombies."

"I know. It was a ridiculously close call, but I found a way out."

She wasn't finished trying to rationalize his sudden appearance. "I tried to call your radio and the line was dead."

"Yeah, I landed on it when I jumped off the roof."

"You jumped off the roof?" Puck asked, and Finn laughed, reaching for his backpack and handing his notebook over to them.

"Read this, it explains everything. Hold onto it and I'll get it back tomorrow." Puck and Kurt took his journal and walked off with it, leaving Finn to have this moment with Rachel alone. He turned back to her, and she was still looking at him like he was a mirage as he reached out for her hand. Their palms touched as their fingers entwined and she finally looked like she believed he was real. Smiling widely, he rubbed his fingers over her tiny hand and tucked her unruly hair behind her ear in a comforting gesture. She leaned into him and closed her eyes, the ghost of a smile gracing her lips.

"You're _really_ here." She said, still in awe. "You made it out alive."

"I told you I wouldn't stop fighting. I had made a promise and I meant to keep it."

"And now?"

"Now?" What were they supposed to do now? They couldn't go to school, or compete for glee club, or run for homecoming court. They couldn't text one another or send facebook messages or skype. They couldn't even go see a movie.

But they could fight, and survive, and use their love to anchor one another in the chaos that had engulfed the world.

He looked at her and smiled as he leaned forward, capturing her lips in a kiss that made him forget about the brutal stench of zombie guts, or the aching solitude of quarantine. He kissed her with the promise of a future, and the desire to rebuild whatever life they could now have in the new world. Her lips lingered on his and all the nightmares of his past were washed away in the flood of love that flowed through him. He was back, he was alive, and he was ready to keep fighting. With one last kiss, a kiss that was filled with promise, hope, and the deepest love, he led her into the safety of her trailer for the night, wondering what will happen tomorrow, and the next day, and the days after that.

"Now, we _live_, and we never look back."

* * *

Salut mes amis!

I hope you enjoyed my zombie!crack fic! See, even during the apocalypse, Finchel gets a happy ending!

Until next time, _sings_, Don't Stop. . ._ Reviewing_!

Merci Mille Fois!


End file.
